Round 12
Bradford Bulls 36 d. Warrington Wolves 24

2007 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Bulls put Wolves away in dominant second half display
Mon April 30, 2007
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Fullback Michael Platt continued his tryscoring streak as Bradford Bulls drew level with engage Super League leaders Leeds Rhinos ahead of their Millennium Stadium showdown.

Platt, Super League's leading tryscorer in his first season at Odsal, scored two of his side's six touchdowns to take his tally for the season to 12 in as many matches and help the Bulls complete the double over Warrington Wolves.

Bradford played the entire second half without captain Paul Deacon but pulled away from the visitors with three tries in the last quarter as Warrington paid for their indiscipline.

The Wolves were on the wrong end of a 17-7 penalty count, much of it down to the lack of timing by Great Britain forward Adrian Morley, who had an eventful first full game for his club.

Morley played just 61 minutes in the first 11 weeks of the season after twice breaking his cheekbone and seemed desperate to make up for lost time.

He was responsible for conceding the first three penalties of the match and was twice lectured by referee Ashley Klein, who put him on report for a challenge on his former Leeds team-mate Iestyn Harris.

The game's first six penalties all went against Warrington, who were naturally on the back foot for the first quarter and found themselves trailing 18-6 after 27 minutes.

Deacon opened the scoring, darting over after just two minutes, but the visitors drew level when Brent Grose, who switched from wing to full-back following the loss of former Bradford favourite Stuart Reardon through injury, fended off some poor tackling to score.

Bradford were the livelier side in the first half and opened up a 12-point lead with two tries in eight minutes midway through the half.

David Solomona fired out a pass for winger Lesley Vainikolo to charge over for his 10th try of the season and the 140th of a Bradford career likely to be brought to an end in the coming weeks with a move to Gloucester.

Platt then finished off a break from Iestyn Harris to cross for his 11th try of the season, with Deacon adding a third goal.

Platt thought he had scored again on 36 minutes but was denied by an obstruction ruling which brought Warrington's first penalty of the match.

A 90-metre interception try from loose forward Vinnie Anderson brought the Wolves back into the picture and captain Lee Briers brought them level just before the break when he weaved his way to the line and kicked his third conversion.

The Bulls were less effective without Deacon, who failed to re-appear for the second half, but they continued to dominate.

Lee Briers and Richie Barnett were both penalised for obstruction and were fortunate not to be sin-binned as Warrington hung on grimly until Platt went over for his second try on the hour.

He almost completed his third hat-trick of the season six minutes later when freed by substitute hooker Ian Henderson but offloaded from Grose's tackle for Jamie Langley to score the match-clinching try.

In Deacon's absence, Harris added both conversions and also kicked a penalty before centre James Evans took advantage of a defensive slip to claim the Bulls' sixth try.

Warrington finshed a well-beaten side but they had the last say when Briers intercepted Solomona's pass to grab a consolation try, to which he added a fourth goal.

Bradford Bulls (18) 36
Tries: Platt 2, Deacon, Vainikolo, Langley, Evans
Goals: Deacon 3, I. Harris 3

Warrington (18) 24
Tries: Briers 2, Grose, Anderson
Goals: Briers 4

Bradford: Platt, McAvoy, B. Harris, Evans, Vainikolo, I. Harris, Deacon, Vagana, Newton, Lynch, McKenna, Solomona, Langley.
Replacements: Halley, Cook, Henderson, Burgess.

Warrington: Reardon, Fa'afili, M. Gleeson, Johnson, Grose, Bridge, Briers, Rauhihi, Clarke, Morley, Westwood, Wainwright, Anderson.
Replacements: Leikvoll, Pickersgill, Harrison, Barnett.

Referee: A Klein
Att: 11,200

Report source: www.superleague.co.uk

Article Morley delighted with comeback


Bulls Eye: Bradford v Warrington
Fri April 27, 2007
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

In this week's Bulls Eye Bradford Coach Steve McNamara looks forward to Sunday's engage Super League Round 12 game at the Grattan Stadium as the Bulls take on Warrington Wolves.

STEVE McNAMARA
THE SIDE LOOK VERY CONFIDENT AT THE MOMENT?
They are going good at the moment. I think the youth that came into the side last week and expressed themselves so well at Hull in a tough environment emphasised the strength of the squad. We have still got players missing and a few bumps and bruises but we are in a reasonably healthy position as regards to players that are in form.

I thought we played well right throughout the game even though we were 10-0 down. We came up with some things that weren't so good and had a man in the sin bin, clawed our way back and that showed the character of the side. To go to Hull and win was a very tough and we are glad it's out of the way

WARRINGTON LOOK LIKE THEY WILL HAVE A FEW PLAYERS BACK FROM INJURY THIS WEEK?
They have plenty coming back this week. We have looked at their initial squad and they have a fair few names back in that squad. When you put those names into a 17 man team then it is a tremendously gifted side and they are getting back to about full strength.

There have been some massive battles between the two sides in the last few years and I am expecting another one this weekend. There have been some big scores too. We have been scoring lots of points and Warrington can accumulate points as well.

Lee Briers keeps you guessing on every single play and you are never quite sure what is going to happen with him. That means you have to be good defensively from the first second to the last second and you have to expect the unexpected if you know what I mean. They are a very difficult side to defend against. They will also have Adrian Morley back this week and he is a great player. In a similar way to Shontayne Hape it's disappointing for everyone that he has missed out so much this year.

No matter which sides they play for everyone want to see the best players out on the field and Adrian certainly fits into that category. Everyone at Bradford has got a lot of respect for Adrian and a bit of fondness for him. He did a great job for us and helped us immensely to win that Grand Final and he's a good bloke as well. We wish him all the best and he's back this week and going to be a handful!!

SQUAD
Steve McNamara has named fit again Chris Feather and Lesley Vainikolo in his 20 man squad.

The 20 man Squad is: I Harris, Newton, Feather, Kopczak, McAvoy, Evans, Cook, Vagana, Henderson, Solomona, Vainikolo, McKenna, Deacon, Burgess, B Harris, Halley, Lynch, James, Platt, Langley,

MILESTONES
LESLEY VAINIKOLO has scored 139 tries in 142 games.

MARCUS St HILAIRE needs 1 try for a century of touchdowns in his career.

PAUL DEACON has kicked 60 goals from 72 attempts this season for an average success rate of 83.33%.

News sent by: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

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